


Picture Perfect

by pretentiouskneecap



Category: RWBY
Genre: Baked Goods and Photo Albums, Day 3: Seasons, Fair Game Weekend (RWBY), Family Feels, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Post-Canon, fairgameweekend2020, fall - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:35:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26831506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pretentiouskneecap/pseuds/pretentiouskneecap
Summary: Flipping through Tai's photo albums brings up thoughts of family, both past and present.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen & Taiyang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 51





	Picture Perfect

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Fair Game Weekend Day 3: Seasons.

Qrow walked through the door, dropping the keys and shopping bags on the counter.

“Tai, I’m back! I brought your groceries,” he called, sliding his boots off. “Not sure how in hell you could possibly need so much sugar, but it’s all there.”

Two heads turned toward him from their spot on the couch. Clover smiled at him in greeting while Tai scoffed. “Freeloaders who don’t help with the baking don’t get to question my methods.”

“Alright, alright, forget I said anything,” Qrow backed off. “What’re you two up to?”

“Tai’s showing me some old photo albums. We were just looking at your old STRQ pictures,” Clover said. 

Tai grinned a little too knowingly, waggling his eyebrows at him out of Clover’s sight line. Qrow ignored him in favor of catching Clover’s gaze. “Blink twice if you need help escaping."

“Very funny,” Tai said, aiming a half-hearted glare his way.

Clover chuckled. “It’s alright, I asked to see them. I have to admit, I’m curious to see what you were like back then.”

Qrow rounded the couch, taking a seat on Clover’s other side. They hadn’t gotten far in the album— which was really more like a scrapbook, with fancily-written letters and stickers covering the pages. The picture displayed on the open page was the first one they’d ever taken as a team at Beacon. Tai was grinning obnoxiously from the side next to Summer’s delighted smile. Qrow was standing behind her and next to Raven, both of them scowling. They’d looked even more like twins back then, almost identical except for their hair and gear. None of them had any idea of what they were getting into. 

Clover’s thoughts were along the same line. “You look thrilled to be there,” he said, amused. 

“It took a while for Qrow and Raven to warm up to us. Summer had to wrangle us together constantly to get any team bonding going,” Tai chimed in with a laugh. 

“Can you blame me? The two of you came on pretty strong. I had to sneak out of the room just to get a second to myself.” Tai reached around Clover to punch Qrow in the shoulder. It was a light one, but being Tai, it was still enough that Qrow had to hide a wince. 

“‘Stop trying to be nice to me, I’m not here to make _friends,’”_ Tai said, dropping his voice and putting on a rasp in a horrifying impersonation of Qrow that had Clover doubled over in laughter.

Qrow sat up, insulted and trying to hold onto his dignity. “I said that _once._ And do me a favor and never do that again.”

“I don’t know,” Clover said, voice wavering with suppressed humor. “I thought it was a pretty good impression.”

“Traitor,” Qrow accused, leveling him with as unimpressed a look as he could muster. 

Clover raised his hands up in surrender, laughter still dancing in his eyes. He reached back down and flipped to the next page. It was a spread of photos of Beacon; there were a few of Summer and Tai, and even fewer of Qrow and Raven, who had still been wary of committing themselves to any permanent attachment. Others were of various classmates, lecture halls, and the library looking wrecked after an arm-wrestling match had gotten out of hand. 

“You had quite the sense of fashion back then,” Clover remarked, pointing at a picture of Qrow curled up in a chair, polishing Harbinger. It could’ve been a candid photo, except that Qrow had been fully aware of Tai at the time and was instead deliberately ignoring him. 

The younger Qrow had yet to figure out his look, and was wearing a combination of clothes he’d brought from the tribe and things he’d picked up from Beacon or been gifted by Summer and Tai. In retrospect, it was a bit on the nose for where his headspace had been then. 

“Sure, I bet you never made any questionable fashion choices,” Qrow groused and Clover laughed.

“It wasn’t a critique. You always look good, it’s nice to know that even you’ve made mistakes like the rest of us.” 

Qrow ran a hand through his hair and down the back of his neck, trying not to show how pleased he was by the compliment. 

The rest of the Beacon section passed quickly. Clover chimed in here and there, asking questions and prompting him and Tai to tell stories of their school days, but there wasn’t much to see in the physical pages. There were precious few pictures of the full team STRQ later on as they’d started taking on more advanced missions and secrecy became key. Once they’d gotten their licenses and started working for Oz, the picture-taking all but stopped until Yang was born. There was only one photo of the whole team after they became full-fledged huntsmen and huntresses before the girls came into their lives— the original copy of the creased, well-worn one Qrow carried around in his pocket. 

As much as Qrow wished they’d taken more time to document their lives as a full team to reminisce on, part of him was glad for the lack of it too. Their family had finally gotten peace and closure after all these years, but dwelling on thoughts of Raven and Summer would always be bittersweet. 

Qrow wondered if Clover had picked up on the wistful mood that he and Tai had fallen into, asking questions and making comments that led them to lighter memories. Knowing him, he probably had. Even his presence there was enough to help improve the mood, a reminder that even with the losses his family had endured, there were plenty of good things ahead of them. That he wasn’t without a partner. 

When they finally made it to Yang’s first baby picture, Tai lit up, armed with a story for every page in the album. He told them in painstaking detail, as if he’d memorized every facet of Yang and Ruby’s childhoods to make sure no detail of either one would be forgotten. Qrow had to fight back a flush as Tai and Clover alternately laughed and cooed over a series of pictures documenting the first time Qrow held Yang. His expression was terrified in the first photo, having been far more comfortable at that stage killing Grimm than holding babies. By the third, though, he was clearly smitten, drawn in by that same electric charm Yang still possessed in adulthood. 

“Is that a _scythe?”_ Clover asked after Tai had narrated them all the way up to Ruby’s toddlerhood, leaning over to point at a picture of her proudly brandishing her new toy to the camera. The scythe had been as tall as she was. 

Qrow grinned with pride. “Sure is. Helped her make that for her third birthday. She wanted to dress up as me for Halloween, and she begged for one for weeks.”

“Scared years off my life with that gift,” Tai muttered and Qrow scoffed.

“Please, she was fine. I dulled the edges, it was perfectly safe.”

“If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I could’ve paid off this house years ago.”

“Tai, you _inherited_ this house.” 

“That’s not the point!” Tai exclaimed, throwing his hands up. 

“Well, it seems like she grew up no worse for wear,” Clover tried to inject diplomatically. “She’s quite the talented scythe-wielder now.”

Qrow smirked while Tai groaned. Both he and Clover recoiled back against the couch to avoid the finger Tai jabbed an inch from Qrow’s face. The move shoved Clover’s shoulder right up against Qrow’s and the heat of his bare skin prickled through the fabric of Qrow’s jacket. “Barely a year with you and you’ve already poisoned him!” 

“Good,” Qrow said, smiling at Clover and rejoicing when Clover smiled back. Tai shook his head helplessly, but Qrow would’ve sworn his lips were twitching up at the edges. He got up from the couch, joints cracking and popping as he stretched. 

“Well, I probably should get started on the baking if we ever want to eat. It sure would be nice if my very _grown-up, fully licensed daughters—”_ he raised his voice as he walked closer to the stairs, grabbing the shopping bags off the table as he went “ _—_ would come down and make themselves useful.”

“I’m happy to help out too,” Clover said, making a move to get up.

“No, no, you’re a guest.” Tai waved his arms in a shooing motion. “You relax. The girls will be plenty of help.”

“Don’t even bother,” Qrow jumped in when it looked like Clover wanted to insist. Clover shot him a look that said he might have anyway, if the sudden clattering of many pairs of feet coming down the steps hadn’t interrupted them. 

“Hi Uncle Qrow!” Ruby chirped as she bounced down into the living room, followed by the full horde of teens behind her. “How was shopping?”

“Would’ve been fine, except your father put enough on the list to feed an army. Besides, shopping isn’t exactly what my powers of transformation were intended for. It’s demeaning.”

Yang draped her arms over the bannister, cocking her head to the side cheekily. “Why? It’s not like you’re using them to spy anymore.”

“You are so your father’s daughter,” Qrow snorted. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you to respect your elders?”

Yang put a finger to her chin in mock contemplation. “I _may_ have heard something like that, but when old men talk for too long, I find it’s best just to tune them out.”

“ _Hey—”_

“What’s that dad? You need me in the kitchen? Sorry Uncle Qrow, duty calls, bye!” she said in a rush, disappearing into the kitchen after Ruby and the rest.

Qrow crossed his arms over his chest with a huff. “They take down one immortal witch and think they can go around giving lip to whoever they like.”

“You taught them too well,” Clover said, resting a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. The effect is broken by the amusement in his expression. 

——

Within an hour, delicious smells of baked goods and spices began to waft out of the kitchen. Qrow became increasingly distracted by the smell, until he finally decided he was hungry and had waited long enough. 

“How about I grab us some samples?” he asked Clover when the conversation reached a lull. 

Clover shot a glance between him and the kitchen. “You sure Tai will let you take anything? He seemed pretty determined that we try everything together.”

Qrow waved an uncaring hand, already off the couch and moving backwards in toward the open entryway, stepping over Zwei who was spread out and sleeping deeply at the bottom of the stairs. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Just give me a minute.”

The kitchen was a mess of bodies crowded together in too small a space, everyone focused on the job they were assigned. Qrow was less nervous in the kitchen than he used to be, with his semblance now well under his control, but years of instinct still made him wary of getting too close. He shook his head at himself and ignored the feeling. 

Tai was nothing if not serious about his baking, and he enlisted Ren to stand next to the oven and watch the bakes, keeping a careful eye on them at all times. Yang, Blake, and Oscar sat along the counter with Ruby and Weiss crowded together on the end of it. On the opposite side of the kitchen, Nora and Jaune stand over Penny’s shoulder at the table, watching as she carved intricate works of art into the pumpkins with an expression of intense concentration. Nora egged her on, calling out harder and harder challenges for Penny to attempt while Jaune admired the new jack-o-lanterns with an awed expression. 

“What’ve you got there, kiddo?” Qrow asked as he walked over to stand next to Ruby who has been put in charge of cookie frosting. He tilted his head to the side, trying to get an idea of what the design she’s working on was meant to be. “Is that supposed to be a ghost?”

“What? No! Uncle Qrow, it’s obviously Zwei!” she protested, gesturing emphatically at the cookie. The motion flung bits of frosting into the air, and Qrow ducked to avoid getting a smear of gray across his forehead. Another glob landed in the center of the cookie Weiss was working on, ruining the intricate leaf design underneath it. Weiss dropped it to the counter with a frustrated sigh. 

He patted Ruby on the shoulder. “Of course it is. Good choice pipsqueak. Very seasonal.” Ruby stuck her tongue out at him in lieu of an answer, turning back to her job with even more determination on her face.

“Tai, how long do these need to cool for before we can glaze them?” Ren called out from over by the stove. Tai had beamed at the first “Mr. Xiao-Long” he’d gotten from the kids once they’d arrived back during the days of the war and then promptly put a stop to it, telling them in no uncertain terms to address him as either ‘dad’ or ‘Tai.’

Tai put a hand on his hip, casting a critical gaze over the batch of scones before turning back to the bowl in the crook of his other arm. “We’ll give them ten minutes.”

Qrow spied a rack of cooling cranberry mini tarts sitting to Ren’s left and behind Tai’s back. _Jackpot_. He snuck by the counter, careful to stay out of Tai’s view. Yang and Oscar were hard at work demonstrating to Blake the correct way to slice an apple. He couldn’t resist tapping Yang on her far shoulder, laughing when she refused to fall for the trick and turned around to swat at him. 

He waited until Ren was fully embroiled in monitoring the next set of scones and Tai was stirring his batter vigorously before making his move. He crept silently towards the tray, reaching his hands out toward the tarts sitting innocently on top. The crust of the tarts shined a perfect golden brown, contrasting with the deep red of the contents inside the little cups. His fingers were inches from the edge when Tai whipped around, cracking his wooden spoon down hard across his wrist. 

“Back off, Branwen!”

Qrow snatched his hand back. “What the hell, Tai? I was just going to look.”

“Oh, please. We both know you were here to steal." Tai wagged the spoon in his face. "Guess you really can't teach an old crow new tricks."

"I was going to bring one to Clover! You won't make an exception even for a guest?"

"Nice try. You can both eat once everything's done, like the rest of us." Qrow could tell Tai wasn't going to break and he gave up, grumbling about stingy teammates as he left the kitchen.

He walked back into the living room to report his failure to Clover when the sight of the other man paused him at the edge of the carpet. Clover had flipped back to the page celebrating Ruby’s birth. Pictures of a beaming but tired Summer holding infant Ruby covered the pages among photos of other people coming to visit the new baby. The center photo showed the first time Yang held her sister, sitting on the couch with Ruby in her arms and Tai, Summer, and Qrow arranged around her. Qrow had offered to take it, but Summer had gotten that determined look in her eyes and yanked him down to the couch by his elbow while Tai set up the tripod. 

Clover’s hands smoothed over the page’s protective covering, something soft and distant in his expression. Qrow felt his heart drop into his stomach. He’d been so consumed by his own conflicted feelings about the album, he hadn’t considered that Clover must be having a difficult time too. He and Clover had shared almost everything about themselves with each other during their trip across Remnant, and Qrow knew it had been a long time since Clover had had a family, and the little he’d had to remember them by was either destroyed or lost in the fall of Atlas.

He had an idea. 

Qrow placed a gentle hand on Clover’s shoulder, interrupting whatever train of thought the other man was having. “Come into the kitchen a minute.”

Reaching down to help Clover off the couch, Qrow slipped his hand over to his shoulder blade to guide Clover into the kitchen ahead of him. He called out to Tai to grab his attention and Tai let out an aggrieved sigh. “I already told you, no tasting until after—” 

“Calm down, it’s not that,” Qrow interrupted the tirade. “Those silly albums of yours got me thinking, it’s about time for another family photo. You still have that camera somewhere?"

“You want to take a picture _now?_ ” Tai asked in disbelief. Both the kitchen and the people in it are in various states of disarray, flour and powdered sugar caked onto every surface and pumpkin pulp strewn across the table. It’s perfect.

Qrow nodded firmly, Clover’s shoulder warm under his hand. “This seems like a memory worth preserving.” Nora whooped with excitement and the other kids jumped in to share their ethuasiasm. 

There was a sudden flurry of activity as Tai ducked into the other room to grab the camera from the closet. Jaune and Penny carried the jack-o-lanterns over to arrange them on the counter as a backdrop while Ruby grabbed Zwei up into her arms and Weiss took to posing the rest of them. She shoved him and Clover to the back of the group, where their height won’t block anyone else from view.

Clover turned toward him as they took their places. “What brought all this on?”

“Our family’s gotten a lot bigger since the last time we took a picture together. No point in wasting the opportunity with everyone here together.” Qrow said with a shrug. He had to force himself to look away as Clover’s startled grin spread wide across his face at the words.

Tai returned to the kitchen with the camera held over his head in victory, the tripod gripped in his other hand. Within minutes the thing was set up and Weiss sent Tai to stand behind his daughters before pronouncing them ready. She pressed the camera’s button, hurrying to squeeze into the space between Ruby and Jaune as the light blinked on and off for the countdown.

Qrow slid his arm around Clover’s shoulders, pulling him in tighter as the final flash went off. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
